How to build it: North Star

We've covered why a North Star works and where it breaks. Now we're building it.

We’re moving from writing good-sounding decks to defining a directional system that guides every decision your team makes without you in the room.

Mission. Vision. Purpose. Strategic Objectives.

Each has a specific job, but connects to the others and together, they create the North Star that orients your organization.

Here's how to build it, step by step.

Start with Purpose: WHY you exist beyond profit

Remember I kept hinting about it?

Purpose answers the question: Why does this business need to exist in the world?

Not "why did you start it" or "what problem does it solve." Those are important, but they're not purpose.

Purpose is the reason your business matters beyond making money. The impact you're here to create. The change you're trying to make in the world, the industry, or the lives of the people you serve.

Warby Parker's purpose is to demonstrate that a business can scale, be profitable, and do good in the world simultaneously. That purpose shapes everything, from their pricing model to their social impact programs.

Purpose is your "why" at the highest level. It's the North Star for your North Star.

How to define your Purpose

Ask these questions:

1. If your business disappeared tomorrow, what would the world lose?

Not revenue or jobs. What impact, what change, what contribution would be gone?

If the answer is "nothing" or "someone else would fill the gap," you haven't found your purpose yet.

2. What do you believe about the world, your industry, or your customers that drives how you operate?

Airbnb believes people are fundamentally good and that belonging is a universal human need. That belief drives their purpose: to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.

Shopify believes that commerce is a force for independence and that the future of retail belongs to entrepreneurs, not corporations. That belief drives their purpose: to make commerce better for everyone by empowering independent businesses.

3. What would you protect even if it cost you short-term profit?

This reveals what you actually care about beyond the financials.

Costco protects their membership model and their markup cap even when they could charge more and the customers would pay more. Low margins mean high volume which gives them negotiating power with suppliers and… better prices. Better prices mean more volume, so the flywheel runs on their purpose. That reveals it: to provide value and quality at the lowest possible price, building trust with members over maximizing profit per transaction.

The test

Your purpose should be:

• Bigger than profit (but not disconnected from business)

• Specific to you (not something every company in your industry could claim)

• Enduring (true today and true in 10 years, even if your products change)

If your purpose could apply to any business, it's not purpose.

Define your Mission: WHAT you do, WHO you serve, and WHY you do it that way

Your mission is the practical expression of your purpose. It defines what you do, who you serve, and why you do it the way you do.

A functional mission has three components:

1. What problem you solve

2. For whom

3. How you solve it differently (your point of view)

Stripe's mission: Increase the economic infrastructure of the internet.

• Problem: Economic infrastructure is limited

• For whom: Anyone who wants to transact online

• How: By building the infrastructure that makes it possible

Glossier's mission: Build a beauty company for the way people actually live today.

• Problem: Beauty companies are built for an outdated model

• For whom: People who want beauty that fits their real lives

• How: By designing for how people actually use products, not how the industry thinks they should

How to define your Mission

Step 1: Name the problem you solve

Be specific. Not "we help businesses grow" but "we help small businesses compete with enterprises by giving them access to tools that were previously only available to companies with massive budgets."

Step 2: Define who you serve

Not "everyone" or "businesses." Who specifically? What do they care about? What do they need that they're not getting?

Notion serves teams that are tired of duct-taping together 10 different tools. They want flexibility without complexity.

Figma serves designers who need to collaborate in real-time with non-designers. They want design to be accessible, not siloed.

Step 3: Articulate your point of view

This is where most missions break: they describe what they do but not why they do it that way.

Your point of view is the belief that drives your approach.

Basecamp's point of view: Work doesn't have to be chaotic. Software should make work calmer, not more stressful.

Duolingo's point of view: Language learning should be free, accessible, and effective for everyone, not just people who can afford expensive courses.

The Mission workshop

Sit with your leadership team and answer these:

1. What problem are we solving? Write it in one sentence. Be specific.

2. For whom are we solving it? Describe your ideal customer. Not demographics, but psychographics. What do they believe? What do they care about? What are they trying to achieve?

3. Why do we solve it this way? What do we believe that makes us approach the problem differently than competitors?

4. What would we say no to, even if it's profitable, because it violates our mission?

This last question is the filter test. If you can't name three things you'd say no to, your mission isn't specific enough.

The test

Your mission should be:

• Specific enough to exclude options (if it could apply to any competitor, it's too vague)

• Functional as a decision filter (your team can use it to decide which customer to serve, which feature to build, which opportunity to pursue)

• Honest (it reflects how you actually operate, not how you wish you operated)

Ask five people across different functions to explain the mission. If you get five different answers, go back to step one.

Define your vision: WHERE you're going

Your vision is the future state you're building toward. It's what the world looks like when you succeed at your mission over time.

A functional vision is:

• Ambitious but believable

• Specific enough to visualize

• Connected to your mission

Ørsted's vision: Create a world that runs entirely on green energy. That's not "be the biggest renewable energy company." It's a future state where the entire global energy system has transformed. The mission (build offshore wind farms, phase out fossil fuels, develop green hydrogen) is how they're working toward that vision. They've gone from being Denmark's largest fossil fuel company to one of the world's leading renewable energy companies. The vision drove a complete business transformation.

Canva's vision: Empower the world to design.

That's not "be the biggest design tool." It's a future where anyone, regardless of skill level, can create professional-quality design. The mission (make design simple and accessible) is how they're working toward that vision.

How to define your Vision

Step 1: Imagine success 10 years from now

Beyond "we're a $X billion company" or "we're the market leader”, what has changed in the world because your business exists?

What do your customers' lives look like? What does your industry look like? What's different?

Step 2: Make it specific

Vague visions don't guide decisions. "Change the world" or "make people's lives better" could mean anything.

Duolingo's vision: A world where everyone has access to a high-quality, personalized education. That's specific. It tells you what success looks like.

Step 3: Connect it to your mission

Your vision should be the logical outcome of executing your mission at scale over time.

If your mission is about accessibility and your vision is about premium exclusivity, they don't connect. If your mission is about speed and your vision is about depth, they don't connect.

The Vision workshop

Answer these with your team:

1. If we execute our mission perfectly for 10 years, what changes in the world?

2. What does success look like for the people we serve?

Beyond "they buy more from us”, what's different about their lives, their work, their outcomes?

3. What would have to be true for our vision to be realized?

This reveals the assumptions you're making and the conditions you're trying to create.

The test

Your vision should be:

• Inspiring (people want to work toward it)

• Clear (you can visualize what it looks like)

• Connected to your mission (it's the logical outcome of your mission at scale)

If your vision feels disconnected from your mission, one of them is wrong.

Integrate Mission, Vision, and Purpose

Most companies define these separately. HR writes the mission. Leadership writes the vision. Purpose gets added later as an afterthought (from experience, it doesn’t in most of the cases).

A functional North Star integrates them.

Purpose is why you exist. Mission is what you do to fulfill that purpose. Vision is where you're going if you execute the mission over time.

They should tell one coherent story.

Example: Stripe

Purpose: Enable economic progress by expanding access to the internet economy.

Mission: To increase the GDP of the internet by increasing the economic infrastructure of the internet.

Vision: A world where anyone, anywhere can start and scale a business online.

See how they connect? The purpose drives the mission. The mission, executed over time, achieves the vision.

Example: Warby Parker

Purpose: Demonstrate that a business can scale, be profitable, and do good simultaneously.

Mission: Offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

Vision: A world where everyone has access to affordable, quality eyewear and where businesses are a force for good.

The purpose shapes the mission. The mission, scaled, realizes the vision.

The integration test

Write your purpose, mission, and vision on one page. Read them out loud.

Do they tell one story? Or do they feel like three separate exercises?

If someone read only your mission, would they understand your purpose? If someone read only your vision, would they understand your mission?

If not, you have to work a little bit more on integrating them.

Define Strategic Objectives: the measurable milestones

Strategic objectives translate your North Star into measurable progress.

They answer the question: How do we know if we're moving closer to our vision?

Strategic objectives are not OKRs. OKRs are quarterly. Strategic objectives are multi-year. They're the 3-5 big outcomes that, if achieved, move you significantly closer to your vision. Nowadays, I think the 3-5 years span is getting shorter.

How to define Strategic Objectives

Step 1: Start with your vision

What has to be true for your vision to be realized?

If your vision is "a world where anyone can start and scale a business online," what has to be true?

• More people need access to payment infrastructure

• More people need tools to incorporate and manage businesses globally

• More people need to be able to accept payments in any currency

Those become your strategic objectives.

Step 2: Make them measurable

"Expand access" is not measurable. "Enable 10 million new businesses to transact online" is measurable.

Step 3: Connect them to your mission

Each strategic objective should be a direct outcome of executing your mission.

If your mission is about democratization and your strategic objective is about enterprise revenue, they don't connect.

Example: Shopify

Vision: Make commerce better for everyone.

Strategic Objectives:

1. Enable 10 million merchants to sell online

2. Process $1 trillion in GMV annually

3. Make entrepreneurship accessible in 150+ countries

Each objective is measurable. Each connects to the mission (empower independent businesses). Each moves them closer to the vision.

The test

Your strategic objectives should be:

• Measurable (you can track progress)

• Ambitious (they require real effort and focus)

• Connected to your mission and vision (they're the logical milestones on the path to your vision)

If you achieve your strategic objectives but your vision feels no closer, they're the wrong objectives or the vision you formulated is not what you intended.

Embed it into how you operate

Defining your North Star is 20% of the work. Embedding it into how you operate is the other 80%.

That's what we'll tackle next week: How to make your North Star the operating logic of your business.

But before you get there, you need the North Star defined.

So here's your homework:

1. Define your purpose. Why does your business need to exist beyond profit?

2. Define your mission. What problem do you solve, for whom, and why do you solve it the way you do?

3. Define your vision. What does the world look like when you succeed?

4. Define your strategic objectives. What are the 3-5 measurable outcomes that move you closer to your vision?

5. Test integration. Do they tell one coherent story?

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Where we go next

Next week, we'll make it worth it. How to embed your North Star into hiring, performance, resource allocation, and decision-making so it's not just a statement on the wall, but what’s supposed to be: the system that drives behaviour.

Our goal is the same: building something that works, not just writing something that sounds good.